People
Louis B. Schatz

Louis B. Schatz

Partner

Louis Schatz served as chair of Shipman’s Tax and Employee Benefits Practice Group for more than 20 years and, from 2007 to 2017, served on the firm’s Management Committee. A past chair of the Tax Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, Lou draws on his decades of experience in federal and Connecticut tax matters to help clients understand the real-world impact of complex tax laws and regulations, make effective tax-planning decisions, and resolve disputes with tax authorities.

In addition to being a tax-specific counsel, Lou serves as a trusted, primary relationship partner for many of his clients. He has developed strong relationships within the accounting community and has a deep understanding of the connection between business performance and tax strategy. Lou uses these insights to help clients identify and assess potential opportunities and challenges and engage appropriate counsel and other advisors to address a broad range of legal, financial and business issues.

Lou advises clients from across the spectrum — including high-net-worth individuals, family-owned and privately held businesses, and national and multinational, companies. He has particular experience representing closely-held businesses organized as limited liability companies, partnerships and S corporations; real estate joint ventures; and taxpayers involved in federal and Connecticut tax controversies. In recognition of his experience and legal acumen, he has been appointed to several State of Connecticut tax panels, advisory boards and special committees tasked with reviewing and providing recommendations on a range of state tax laws.

Lou was a primary organizer of the firm’s Opportunity Zones team, a multidisciplinary group that advises clients on the federal program that provides incentives to invest in economically distressed urban and rural communities. In this regard, Lou counsels clients — including institutional investors, developers, banks, private equity and venture capital firms, fund sponsors, private investors, family offices and nonprofits — from across the country on opportunity zone matters both within and without the State of Connecticut.

Committed to educating business leaders as well as the next generation of legal and tax professionals, Lou is a frequent lecturer on Federal and Connecticut tax, partnership and limited liability company issues. For many years, he has provided annual updates on Connecticut tax developments to accountants practicing in New York and New Jersey. His recent lectures include presentations to the Connecticut Bar Association, the Connecticut Society of CPAs, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the National Conference of CPA Practitioners, the New York State Society of CPAs, the Long Island Tax Practitioner Symposium, the National Business Institute, the University of Connecticut Income Tax School, the New England Tax Institute and the Foundation for Accounting Education in New York City. He is frequently asked to author articles about state and local tax developments, such as the Tax Notes article entitled "Big Changes Coming to Connecticut's Passthrough Entity Tax" which was published in 2023.

Lou is widely published; among numerous articles, book chapters and commentaries, he authored the latest edition of Connecticut Limited Liability Act: Forms and Practice Manual, the leading treatise in Connecticut on limited liability companies.

Credentials

Education

New York University School of Law, LL.M. (in Taxation), 1980
Cornell Law School, J.D., 1979
Cornell University, B.A., 1976

Bar Admissions

New York, 1981
Connecticut, 1988

Court Admissions

U.S. Tax Court, 1988

Distinctions

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America®: Tax Law (2012–2025); Litigation and Controversy - Tax (2012, 2015–2017, 2019–2025)
Named "Lawyer of the Year" Best Lawyers Hartford Region Tax Law (2013, 2018, 2022, 2024); Tax Litigation & Controversy (2017, 2019, 2021)
Listed as a Connecticut Super Lawyer®: Tax (2006–2024)
Connecticut Department of Revenue Services Business/Practitioner Liaison Group, External Advisory Board (2016–present)
Connecticut Bar Association, House of Delegates (2010–2016)
Connecticut State Tax Panel, appointed by General Assembly's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee and directed to review overall state and local tax structure (2014–2015)
Special Committee appointed by the Department of Revenue Services Commissioner to consider changes to Connecticut’s partnership tax sourcing laws (2010)
Connecticut Tax Court, Special Master
Special Committee appointed by Connecticut Law Revision Commission to consider changes to the application of Connecticut's limited liability company (LLC) law to professionals (2002)
AV Preeminent® Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
Connecticut Bar Foundation, James W. Cooper Life Fellow

Teaching Positions

University of Connecticut Income Tax School
University of Hartford Barney School of Business: Guest Lecturer

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association, Taxation Section
Connecticut Bar Association, Past Chair of Tax Section
Connecticut Bar Association, Tax Section Executive Committee, Business Law Section; Former Chair, Limited Liability Company Subcommittee; Former Chair, Property and Conveyance Tax Subcommittee
New York Bar Association
ISA (Independent State and Local Tax Alliance): Only Member whose practice is based in Connecticut

Experience

Mergers, acquisitions & joint ventures

Acquisition of Telecommunications Company Based in the Midwest

Represented a telecommunications company in connection with the acquisition of 100% of the stock of a national telecommunications company based in Michigan, by a new, wholly-owned acquisition subsidiary. The selling shareholders and the buyer entity agreed to file a Section 338(h)(10) election to treat the transaction as an asset sale for tax purposes, providing the buyer with a step up in basis and creating potentially more value to a subsequent asset buyer in the future. In addition to negotiating and preparing the stock purchase agreement and related ancillary documents, and reviewing the target company’s due diligence materials, our team also negotiated employment and non-compete agreements for the target company’s principal shareholders, who will remain with the company under its new ownership.

Acquisition of Life Sciences Research Company

Represented an affiliate of SARORAS Private Capital, a private equity fund that invests in growing companies in the technology-enabled services industry, in connection with its multi-million acquisition of InCrowd, Inc., a leading market research company in the life sciences industry. Our representation included both the creation of a new platform for the investor syndicate, as well as a merger transaction to acquire the target company.

General

Sale of Company and Continued Representation

Continue to handle general corporate work for client that licenses, creates, publishes and distributes leading products and services to mobile consumers around the world after purchase by a Japanese-based public company.

LIHTC Financing of Affordable Housing Development in New Haven

Represented a large regional developer with respect to a series of transactions which will result in the rehabilitation and renovation of the former Welch Annex School in New Haven into 30 apartments providing 100% deed-restricted affordable housing as part of New Haven’s Hill-to-Downtown Project. The transactions involved simultaneously closing on the acquisition of the property, 4% low-income housing tax credit financing from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, Housing Trust Fund financing from the Connecticut Department of Housing, CDBG financing from the City of New Haven and an unsecured loan from a related party, while entering into a joint venture agreement with a tax credit investor. In addition, our team prepared and negotiated the construction contract and various subcontracts, efficiently navigating the myriad requirements of the various governmental agencies involved.

Sale of Really Good Stuff, Inc.

Represented Really Good Stuff, Inc., a multi-channel marketer of innovative classroom products and teaching tools in its successful sale to Excelligence Learning Corporation, a leading developer, manufacturer, distributor, and multi-channel retailer of educational products. As an innovation leader, Really Good Stuff offers over 7,500 products (500 new products annually) to meet the needs of teachers and classrooms in the K-8th grade market.

The strategic acquisition of Really Good Stuff expands Excelligence’s market, which will now include pre-K early childhood programs, preschools and grades K-8, and allows both companies the opportunity to leverage their respective core strengths and resources to create customized solutions for school districts across the country. In connection with the acquisition, a team of Shipman & Goodwin attorneys, working with Really Good Stuff’s regular outside corporate counsel, represented Really Good Stuff on tax, pension, environmental and Connecticut business matters. For more information, read the press release.

Business and Tax Representation for Premier Catering Company in Tri-State Area

Served as General Counsel for close to 20 years to the premier catering company in the NY, NJ and Connecticut region, including the representation of the controlling owners of the company in the successful multi-million dollar sale of the business to the world’s leading operator in the catering and support services industry.

December 17, 2024 8:00 AM - 5:10 PM